2023 BAL season
The 2023 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 3, is the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).[1] The season began on 11 March 2023 and will end on 27 May 2023, with the playoffs and finals being played in the BK Arena in Kigali, which hosts the finals for a third season in a row. The regular season is played in Dakar, Senegal (Sahara Conference) and Cairo, Egypt (Nile Conference) for a second year in a row.
2023 BAL season | |
---|---|
Season | 2023 |
Dates | 11 March – 27 May 2023 |
Number of teams | 12 |
Records | |
Biggest home win | 41 points Petro de Landa 87–48 Cape Town Tigers (30 April 2023) |
Highest attendance | 9,874 AS Douanes 70–76 ABC Fighters (11 March 2023) |
Lowest attendance | 214 REG 64–48 Kwara Falcons (12 March 2023) |
2024 → |
The qualification games for the season, the Road to BAL, began on 11 October 2022. The winners of the 2023 BAL season will automatically qualify for the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup Singapore.[2]
US Monastir are the defending champions, having won their first title in the previous season.
Qualification
The first round of the qualifying stage consists of 20 teams that play in four groups of five, each held in different cities. In the Elite 16, the teams are joined by 6 teams that qualified during the previous 2022 BAL qualification. Two groups of five teams are played to determine the six teams that advance to the main tournament.[3]
On 21 September 2021, FIBA Africa announced the 26 teams in the qualifying tournaments as well as the six countries that would qualify directly.[3]
Group phase
Group A (Niamey) |
Group B (Yaoundé) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Road to BAL |
Elite 16
Group A (Abidjan) |
Group B (Abidjan) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Road to BAL |
Source: Road to BAL |
Final round
Semi-finals | Final | |||||
18 November 2022 | ||||||
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19 November 2022 | ||||||
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18 November 2022 | ||||||
![]() | 81 | |||||
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Third place game | ||||||
19 November 2022 | ||||||
![]() | 59 | |||||
![]() | 62 |
Group phase
Group A (Dar es Salaam) |
Group B (Antananarivo) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elite 16
Group C (Johannesburg) |
Group D (Johannesburg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Road to BAL |
Source: Road to BAL |
Final round
Semi-finals | Final | |||||
26 November | ||||||
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27 November | ||||||
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26 November | ||||||
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Third place game | ||||||
27 November | ||||||
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![]() | 71 |
Teams
Petro de Luanda was the first team to qualify for the season when it won the Angolan League on 10 May 2022.[4] The last qualifed team was City Oilers who captured the third place in the Road to BAL East Division on 27 November 2022. The twelve teams of the 2023 BAL season were officially confirmed on 13 February 2023.[5] After an absence of a Nigerian representative in the 2022 season due to FIBA's punishment of the Nigeria Basketball Federation,[6] Kwara Falcons was directly qualified as winners of the Nigerian Premier League.[7]
Al Ahly, Kwara Falcons, ABC Fighters and Stade Malien will make their debut in the competition. ABC Fighters is the first team from Ivory Coast to play in the BAL, while City Oilers is the first team from Uganda.[8][5]
Two teams, defending champions US Monastir and runners-up Petro de Luanda, appear in their third consecutive season.
Team | Method of
qualification |
Date of
qualification |
Finals
appearance |
Previous
appearance |
Consecutive
appearances |
Previous best
performance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Angolan Basketball League winners | 10 May 2022[4] | 3rd | 2022 | 3 | Runners-up (2022) |
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Championnat National A winners | 16 May 2022 | 3rd | 2022 | 3 | Champions (2022) |
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Egyptian Super League winners | 16 May 2022[9] | 1st | – | 1 | – |
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RBL winners | 19 September 2022[10] | 2nd | 2022 | 2 | Quarter-finals (2022) |
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Nationale 1 winners | 15 October 2022[11] | 2nd | 2021 | 1 | Quarter-finals (2021) |
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NBBF Premier League winners | 12 November 2022[7] | 1st | – | 1 | – |
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Road to BAL West Division winners | 17 November 2022[8] | 1st | – | 1 | – |
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Road to BAL West Division runners-up | 17 November 2022[12] | 2nd | 2022 | 2 | Quarter-finals (2022) |
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Road to BAL West Division third place | 18 November 2022[13] | 1st | – | 1 | – |
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Road to BAL East Division runners-up | 26 November 2022[14] | 2nd | 2022 | 2 | Group stage (2022) |
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Road to BAL East Division winners | 26 November 2022[15] | 2nd | 2022 | 2 | Quarter-finals (2022) |
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Road to BAL East Division third place | 27 November 2022 | 1st | – | 1 | – |
Personnel and sponsorship
Augustí Julbe of Al Ahly was the only coach this season to already have won a BAL championship, as he won the 2021 title with Zamalek.
Team | Head coach | Captain |
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ABC Fighters | ![]() |
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Al Ahly | ![]() |
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AS Douanes | ![]() |
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Cape Town Tigers | ![]() |
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City Oilers | ![]() |
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Ferroviário da Beira | ![]() |
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Kwara Falcons | ![]() |
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Petro de Luanda | ![]() |
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REG | ![]() |
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SLAC | ![]() |
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Stade Malien | ![]() |
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US Monastir | ![]() |
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Foreign and Elevate players
Each BAL team was allowed to have four foreign players on its roster, including only two non-African players. Players in italics were signed only for the playoffs. If players have multiple nationalities, the nationality of an African nation is shown.
Each team also featured one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the BAL Elevate program.[23] The players were drafted in an online meeting by the teams and the official list were announced on 28 February 2023.[24]
Team | African | Non-African | Elevate player[24] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
ABC Fighters | ![]() |
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Al Ahly | ![]() |
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AS Douanes | ![]() |
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Cape Town Tigers | ![]() |
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City Oilers | ![]() |
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Ferroviário da Beira | ![]() |
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Kwara Falcons | ![]() |
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Petro de Luanda | ![]() |
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REG | ![]() |
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SLAC | ![]() |
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Stade Malien | ![]() |
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US Monastir | ![]() |
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Notable transactions
- On 23 September 2022, Petro de Luanda signed two-time BAL champion Solo Diabate, who came over from US Monastir.[53]
- On 10 January 2023, AS Douanes announced the signing of two-time BAL scoring champion Terrell Stoglin. They signed Chris Crawford, who played in both previous seasons, as well to complete their back court.[54]
- On 21 January 2023, US Monastir signed Jerome Randle, a former NBL MVP winner in Australia.[55]
- On 4 February 2023, the Cape Town Tigers signed Zaire Wade.[56]
- On 23 February 2023, ABC Fighters announced the signing of Abdoulaye Harouna, who lined up for his third BAL season.[57]
- On 10 March 2023, Petro de Luanda signed reigning BAL champion and Defensive Player of the Year Ater Majok, who came over from US Monastir.[58]
Pre-season
US Monastir, as champions of the 2022 BAL season, participated in the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup. It was the second time a BAL team participated in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. In the competition, played in February and hosted in La Laguna in Spain, Monastir finished fourth after two losses against CB Canarias and Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[59]
ESPN tipped Petro de Luanda, last year's runners-up, as the title favourites in their annual season preview.[60]
Combine
The league hosted their official second BAL Combine on 15 and 16 January 2023 at The One Ball Training Center in Paris.[61] The combine featured 30 players and was directed by former NBA head coach Quin Snyder.[62] Several players signed a contract with a BAL team after participating in the Combine.[63]
Player | Team |
---|---|
Adonis Filer | REG |
Chudier Bile | ABC Fighters |
Makhtar Gueye | Ferroviário da Beira |
Zaire Wade | Cape Town Tigers |
Schedule
The schedule for the 2023 season was officially released on 13 February 2023.[5]
Phase | Round | Draw date | Games |
---|---|---|---|
Qualifying | First Round | – | 12–30 October 2022 |
Elite 16 | 3 November 2022 | 14–27 November 2022 | |
Group phase | Sahara Conference | – | 11–21 March 2023 |
Nile Conference | 26 April – 6 May 2023 | ||
Playoffs | Quarter-finals | 21–27 May 2023 | |
Semi-finals | |||
Final and third place |
Regular season
The regular season is played from 11 March to 6 May 2023. The twelve teams are divided into two conferences of six teams each. Teams in each group play each other one time, whereafter the top four teams advance to the playoffs.
Tiebreakers |
---|
The ranking of teams in the regular season is determined as follows:[64]
|
Sahara Conference
The games of the Sahara Conference were played from 11 March to 21 March 2023 and were hosted in the Dakar Arena in Dakar, Senegal for a second consecutive season. Stade Malien finished as Conference winner, due to their head-to-head point difference that determined the ranking of five teams with a 3–2 record. The defending BAL champions, US Monastir, missed the playoffs after they lost on the last game day.
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
5 | 3 | 2 | 378 | 361 | +17 | .600[lower-alpha 1] | Advance to playoffs |
2 | ![]() |
5 | 3 | 2 | 350 | 331 | +19 | .600[lower-alpha 1] | |
3 | ![]() |
5 | 3 | 2 | 356 | 344 | +12 | .600[lower-alpha 1] | |
4 | ![]() |
5 | 3 | 2 | 389 | 390 | −1 | .600[lower-alpha 1] | |
5 | ![]() |
5 | 3 | 2 | 381 | 388 | −7 | .600[lower-alpha 1] | |
6 | ![]() |
5 | 0 | 5 | 341 | 381 | −40 | .000 |
- Five tied teams were ranked on point differential in the games against each other: 1) Stade Malien +13; 2) AS Douanes +12; 3) REG –4; 4) ABC Fighters –4; 5) US Monastir –18.
Nile Conference
The games of the Nile Conference will be played from 26 April to 6 May 2023 and will be played in the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in 6th of October, Cairo, Egypt. Petro de Luanda went undefeated and won the conference, after defeating four teams with a margin of at least 17 points and defeating Al Ahly on a buzzer-beater by Gerson Gonçalves.
Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
5 | 5 | 0 | 463 | 363 | +100 | 1.000 | Advance to playoffs |
2 | ![]() |
5 | 4 | 1 | 425 | 380 | +45 | .800 | |
3 | ![]() |
5 | 2 | 3 | 416 | 462 | −46 | .400[lower-alpha 1] | |
4 | ![]() |
5 | 2 | 3 | 354 | 398 | −44 | .400[lower-alpha 1] | |
5 | ![]() |
5 | 1 | 4 | 409 | 427 | −18 | .200[lower-alpha 2] | |
6 | ![]() |
5 | 1 | 4 | 375 | 412 | −37 | .200[lower-alpha 2] |
- Head-to-head: Ferroviário da Beira defeated Cape Town Tigers 82–76 on 3 May 2023.
- Head-to-head: SLAC defeated City Oilers 96–68 on 2 May 2023.
Playoffs
The playoffs will be held from 21 May to 27 May 2023 in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda for the third consecutive season.
Bracket
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
21 May | ||||||||||
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25 May | ||||||||||
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21 May | ||||||||||
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26 May | ||||||||||
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22 May | ||||||||||
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25 May | ||||||||||
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22 May | ||||||||||
Third place game | ||||||||||
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27 May | ||||||||||
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